Greensboro City Leaders In Birmingham Trying Improve City

Greensboro, NC -- Greensboro city officials and members of the Greensboro Partnership are on a mission to improve the city's image and increase jobs.

On Tuesday, some city leaders were in state of Alabama to learn how officials are improving the area. They were on a two days "Intercity Trip" in Birmingham, AL.

Why Birmingham? A city Councilmember said Birmingham is about the same in size and is facing the same economic issues. That said, Birmingham has seen improvements in their poverty rate, unemployment and wages in the last few years.

Greensboro ranks 309th out of 372 metropolitan areas in the country in unemployment. City Officials say this is just one reason why they're going on "Intercity Trips."

According to the Greensboro Partnership, the trip costs $1,199 per person. Private donors are paying the lion's share of the travel costs. But the flight to the city is paid out of city's travel budget.

On Tuesday, WFMY News 2 spoke to Greensboro Councilmember Zack Matheny, while he was in Birmingham, AL. He spoke in-depth about the museum of art in Birmingham and how we can incorporate something like that in Greensboro. He added, he has an idea that could take the Nussbaum center to the next level, as a technology incubator. Matheny said he's also learning how do better utilize our downtown buildings and overall landscape.

Greensboro city leaders were joined by close to 100 business and civic leaders on the 48-hour trip. The group plans to be back in town on Wednesday.